Wichita State might not be the best college basketball team in the nation. But don’t let anyone tell you the Shockers are not.

Despite being unbeaten, the Shockers might have to settle for entering the NCAA tournament next month ranked no better than No. 2 in the polls and without the overall No. 1 seed. Those would be functions of playing in a weakened Missouri Valley Conference and no other reason.

Wichita State might not win the national championship. But don’t let anyone tell you the Shockers can’t.

With their 69-49 victory Tuesday over Bradley, the Shockers became the first team in college basketball history to claim a 30-0 record during the regular season. It doesn’t matter whether your team plays in the Big Ten or the SWAC, 30-0 is off-the-chain crazy.

Is it easier to go 30-0 in the Valley than in the Big XII? No doubt. But 30-0 in the regular season has never been done in any league, and never is a long time.

“These guys like to be the first, the only and the best,” Shockers coach Gregg Marshall said.

So the Shockers are the first, and right now they’re the only. All that remains to be proven is whether they are the best.

This much is certain. They’re better than they were a year ago, when they finished second in the MVC and then rolled through the NCAA tournament to the Final Four, where they took eventual champion Louisville to the wire in the national semifinals.

It is fun to watch a team so good. They do everything well.

Their reputation has been built on defense and rebounding and toughness, emphasized with a physical presence as imposing as any team playing. The Shockers have no player taller than 6-foot-9, so there are taller teams. But they back down to nobody at any position.

Defensively, they contest everything, everywhere on the court, for the full 40 minutes. In their presence, there is no such thing as an easy shot, a sure pass, a casual dribble. Not even breathing can be taken for granted.

“They are absolutely terrific at help and recover,” Bradley coach Geno Ford said. “And they deny. You can’t find five teams in the country that do that. They deny like crazy, and they make it really hard to catch.”

The Shockers also dominate rebounding, although Bradley became only the fourth team all season to out-board them, taking the rebound battle 37-36. But that required Bradley’s most superb physical and mental effort of the season, and it still wasn’t near enough to give the Braves even a chance to win.

Page 2 of 2 - Beyond the reputation, though, Wichita State is an excellent offensive team. The Shockers can pound the ball inside to strong posts, they can drive and score, or drive and kick to perimeter shooters. They made 10 of 21 3-point attempts against Bradley, several of those makes coming late in the shot clock after solid BU defensive stands.

Wichita State is arguably the nation’s most excellently balanced team. The Pomeroy efficiency formula, based on points scored or allowed per 100 possessions, ranks the Shockers defense 15th and their offense 16th. No other team is ranked so high on both ends of the court.

During his three years at Bradley, Ford has pointed to Wichita State as the program he wants the Braves to emulate. He has tried to emphasize size and athleticism in his recruiting, and he has preached toughness. On those fronts, Bradley fared well against the Shockers.

But it wasn’t enough. And it won’t ever be enough.

Tenacious defense is critical to winning games. So is strong rebounding. Still, you can have the greatest defense ever and a team that never loses rebounding battles, but if you can’t dribble and pass effectively, can’t shoot and can’t score, you can’t win.

Wichita State dominated Bradley because the Braves don’t have enough talent.

Period.

The Shockers have talent capable of winning the national championship. For now, though, they’re trying to manage the journey, which is judged at the moment by an historic 30-0 record.

“It’ll probably hit me when I’m 40 years old and watching college basketball myself as a spectator,” Shockers guard Ron Baker said.

Marshall patted him on the back.

“I hope that I’m with you on a beach somewhere and we’re talking about it,” he said.

KIRK WESSLER is Journal Star executive sports editor/columnist. He can be reached at kwessler@pjstar.com, or 686-3216. Read his Captain’s Blog at blogs.pjstar.com/wessler/. Follow him on Twitter @KirkWessler.